Editing Maria Fitzherbert (section)

{{Short description|Royal mistress (1756–1837)}}
{{redirect|Mrs. Fitzherbert}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Maria Fitzherbert
| image = Maria Anne Fitzherbert1788.jpg
| caption = ''[[Portrait of Maria Fitzherbert]]'' by [[Sir Joshua Reynolds]], 1788
| birth_name = Maria Anne Smythe
| birth_date = {{birth date|1756|07|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Tong Castle]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1837|03|27|1756|07|26|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Steine House]], [[Brighton]], England
| resting_place = [[St John the Baptist's Church, Brighton|St John the Baptist's Church]], [[Kemptown, Brighton|Kemptown]], Brighton
| spouse = {{plainlist|
{{marriage|[[Edward Weld]]|1775|1775|end=d.}}
{{marriage|Thomas Fitzherbert|1778|1781|end=d.}}}}
| children = at least 1 (with Thomas Fitzherbert)
| father = Walter Smythe
| mother = Mary Ann Errington
}}

'''Maria Anne Fitzherbert'''  (''née'' '''Smythe''', previously '''Weld'''; 26 July 1756 – 27 March 1837) was a longtime companion of George, Prince of Wales (later [[King George IV of the United Kingdom]]). In 1785, they married secretly in a ceremony that was invalid under English civil law because his father, [[King George III]], had not consented to it. Fitzherbert was a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], and the law at the time forbade Catholics or spouses of Catholics to become monarch, so had the marriage been approved and valid, the Prince of Wales would have lost his place in the [[Succession to the British throne|line of succession]]. Before marrying George, Fitzherbert had been twice widowed. Her nephew from her first marriage, [[Thomas Weld (cardinal)|Cardinal Weld]], persuaded [[Pope Pius VII]] to declare the marriage sacramentally valid.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Abbot |first=Richard |title=Brighton's unofficial queen |magazine=[[The Tablet]] |publication-date=2007-09-01 |publisher=The Tablet Publishing Company |page=12}}</ref>